The Board found that no service-connected disability caused or contributed to the veteran's death.
The deciding factor: The cause of death was due to polycystic kidney disease, which is not a service-connected condition. Other service-connected conditions did not contribute substantially or materially to the cause of death.
- Claimed conditions
- polycystic kidney disease (PKD), severe generalized atherosclerosis, dilated cardiomyopathy and cardiomegaly, uremic pericarditis, bilateral pulmonary congestion, bilateral pleural effusion
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 4, 2006
- Citation
- 0637351
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0637351.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for polycystic kidney disease (PKD) as the Veteran's current PKD was first clinically diagnosed during his active military service and there is not clear and unmistakable evidence that it was not aggravated by his service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's death was not service-connected due to exposure to toxic herbicides or other service-related factors, and the Board denied his claim for DIC benefits.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's preexisting polycystic kidney disease did not undergo an increase in severity beyond its natural progression during service and was not caused or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for PKD, a stomach disorder, and PTSD due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.
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